Data extraction tools are designed to retrieve structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data from various sources for storage or further transformation. Businesses use these tools to identify and extract valuable data for business intelligence purposes, enhancing the analysis of otherwise unstructured information. These tools enable companies to unlock the potential of unstructured data that may otherwise go unused. Data extraction software works effectively alongside data quality and data preparation tools, which help clean and organize the data post-extraction. Combining data extraction solutions with data integration software can also be highly beneficial, as it allows businesses to aggregate multiple data types and sources in one centralized location. While data extraction platforms share similarities with OCR (Optical Character Recognition) software, the key difference lies in their application. OCR is typically used for extracting text from documents, such as scanning images or processing PDFs, while intelligent document processing (IDP) tools focus on more complex tasks, like extracting data from a variety of document formats beyond basic OCR capabilities.